By the time I get off the phone with Lucky, I notice that Hank is striding over to my van – I busy myself quickly, hoping that he’s not going to be able to tell that I was just talking about him.
"Hi," he greets me from the other side of the counter. I look up and make like I didn’t see him coming.
"Oh, hi," I reply. "I’m not in the wrong place, am I?”
"No, you’re right where you need to be," he assures me, and he eyes me from where he’s standing for a moment. I feel a little heat in my cheeks. God, close up, he’s even cuter...
"I’d like to take you out," he tells me, and my eyebrows shoot up to vanish into my bangs.
"What?"
"On a date," he replies. "You up for it?"
"Oh, I – I'm not in town long," I reply. "Just a couple of days, for the festival..."
"Just one date," he replies, cocking his head to the side and hitting me with the kind of devastating grin that makes it impossible to think straight.
Even though I am well aware that I should know better… "Just one date," I echo, and he nods.
"So that’s a yes?"
"I guess it is," I reply, and I can’t keep the smile off my face. Even though I know that I am going to be out of town in a matter of days, there’s something about the confidence with which he looks at me that makes me feel a little more grounded.
Chapter Three
Hank
I approach the house, and find that my stomach is turning with nerves.
Nerves? When was the last time that I ever felt nervous about anything? I sure as hell can’t remember. Not about taking a girl out, at least. But there’s something about Honey, the girl who runs the apple pie van, and her smile as sweet as a Pink Lady, that makes it hard to think straight.
She’s staying with a friend while she’s in town, so she told me, and that’s where I am right now to pick her up. I grabbed a bunch of roses before I came down here, changed into my best linen suit, and booked out a spot for us at a fancy French bistro just past the town limits.
And I’m not going to let it go to waste. I lift my hand and knock on the door, and a moment later, she answers.
Fuck – she looks gorgeous. Long hair flowing over her shoulders, a knit dress that is so soft and delicate that I can almost see the outline of her gorgeous body underneath it. She smiles at me, eyes lighting up as I hand her the roses.
"Well, thank you," she murmurs, and she leans forward to give me a kiss on the cheek. She smells like vanilla ice cream and cinnamon, and it takes everything I have not to turn to meet her mouth with mine.
"You ready to go?" I ask. I can see her friend lurking just behind her – I recognize her, probably from seeing her around town. She eyes the two of us with something like surprise, as though she can’t believe that I am really here and really taking this girl out.
But I am. And I am determined that we are going to have the most perfect night ever.
The bistro is close enough that we can walk there, and Honey links her arm through mine as we go; she asks me about the cidery, and I tell her everything that she wants to hear.
"It’s been in my family for about a hundred years now," I explain. "My father passed it down to me and I’ve been trying to keep it afloat ever since."
"Do you have a hard time with that?” she asks. "I can’t imagine how much time and effort you must have to put into it..."
"No, you’d be surprised how easy it is to talk people into getting drunk in a pretty spot," I reply, and she laughs.
"And what about Finn Creek?” she asks. "Do you like it here?"
"Of course," I reply. "It’s slow, it suits me. I’ve never been one for the city, going out there and rushing around all the time. I like it here. I know most everyone around and it makes for an easy life. Besides, this is where my roots are, this is where they’ve always been. I don’t want to unearth them after all this time."
"I can imagine," she replies, and she brushes a curl back from her face and shakes her head. "I’ve been on the road for so long now – years, actually. Just never found a place that felt like home enough for me to stop."
"You just drive around, selling those pies?”
"And sleeping on the floor of the van sometimes, yeah," she replies, shaking her head. "I know it’s not for everyone, but I’ve gotten to see so much of this country, and I love that. I would never want to trade those experiences.”